On Mount Tabor the disciples receive the revelation of the son of man in a form transfigured by divine light

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

ON MOUNT TABOR THE DISCIPLES RECEIVE THE REVELATION OF THE SON OF MAN IN A FORM TRANSFIGURED BY DIVINE LIGHT

In the evangelical narrative and in the Lenten journey, another framework is thus added which helps to answer the question we asked at the beginning: Who is he? Now it is the Father himself who reveals the profound identity of Jesus not only to those who witness it on the Mount of Transfiguration, but also to readers and believers in Christ: He is the Son. A theology very present in the Gospels that brings to mind what is written in the First Gospel, when Jesus says: “No one knows the Son except the Father”

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Embark on the Lenten journey it means asking ourselves again the fundamental question about Jesus: Who is he? In the same way as the disciples sitting on the boat tossed by the waves, figure of the Church in the post-Easter period, who woke up the sleeping Lord at the stern and when the storm was calmed they wondered: «So who is he?, that even the wind and the sea obey him?» (MC 4, 41). Mark's story of the Transfiguration that we read on this second Sunday of Lent seeks to answer this question.

The transfiguration of Christ, work by Giovanni Bellini, 1478. Capodimonte Museums, Naples.

"During that time, Jesus took Peter with him, James and John and led them to a high mountain, on the sidelines, them alone. He was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling, very white: no fuller on earth could make them so white. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Taking the floor, Peter said to Jesus: “Rabbi, it's nice for us to be here; let's make three huts, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah". In fact, he didn't know what to say, because they were scared. A cloud came and covered them with its shadow and a voice came out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the beloved: listen!”. And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone, if not Jesus alone, with them. As they came down the mountain, he ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, except after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And they kept the matter between them, wondering what it meant to rise from the dead". (MC 9,2-10)

All three Synoptic Gospels they place the Transfiguration in the same context, that is, after Jesus' announcement of his passion. For the reader, a bridge is thus created between the public ministry of Jesus and the death that will take place in Jerusalem. But also a connection between today's proclamation of Jesus "Son of God", that is heard from the cloud, and two other similar ones. That of Baptism, When: «A voice was heard from heaven» saying «You are my beloved Son, I am pleased with you" (MC 1,11); and the other, which is found only in Mark, at the beginning of the Gospel, in the first verse of the first chapter: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God".

It is very likely that the episode narrated, originally, it was a story of the appearance of the Risen One, that Marco, who excluded such stories from his narration, would have placed it at the center of the Gospel, immediately after Peter's messianic confession, to balance the announcement of the death destiny of the Son of man (MC 8, 31) with the proleptic vision of his glorification (MC 9, 2-13). A choice that would also have determined its placement in Matthew and Luke. Supporting this hypothesis is the fact that throughout the three stories the disciples' misunderstanding of Jesus remains intact., despite some having witnessed such a sensational event. While, placed after his death, the story takes on a crucial meaning. It's the turning point. The three disciples receive the revelation of the Son of man in a form transfigured by divine light. After his death, they have the vision of Jesus placed on the same level as Moses and Elijah, that is, of two biblical figures already raised to celestial glory, and they hear the proclamation of his divine election, the same one that resonates at the moment of baptism. Finally the disciples "know" who Jesus is, and it is in the light of this understanding that the historical and initial episode of baptism takes on its "true" meaning of divine investiture.

In the verse preceding the scene of the Transfiguration that today we read in the Liturgy Jesus says to his disciples: ' Verily I say: there are some present here, who will not die without seeing the kingdom of God come with power" (MC 9,1). Six days after this announcement Jesus brings Peter, James and John with him on a high mountain, in a secluded place, and is transfigured before them. The episode is not only described by all three Synoptic Gospels, but also from the Second Letter of Peter. There the Apostle recalls and writes that he was an eyewitness of the greatness of Jesus:

«He in fact received honor and glory from God the Father when this voice was addressed to him by the majestic glory: “This is my beloved Son, in which I am pleased". We heard this voice coming down from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain." (2PT 1,16-18).

Unlike Baptism, where the voice that proclaims Jesus "Son" seems to have been heard only by Him, in the Transfiguration the words are addressed to the disciples, who cannot ignore them: «Listen to him». It is in fact important that at the moment in which Jesus announces his passion the idea that God will not abandon his Son is reiterated, even if he will be handed over for crucifixion. This will not cloud the Father's faithfulness, so that even the harsh announcement of the passion and death are within the Gospel, they are the good news that the reader needs to be aware of, in the same way as the disciples who had that experience.

Pietro, together with his companions, he is the one who needs to listen to Jesus more than anyone. After the confession of Caesarea Philippi, he demanded to stand in front of him to avoid his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This is why Jesus calls Peter "Satan" (MC 8,33), but then invites him to go up the mountain with him. In other words, here we are faced with the reaction of God to Peter's disbelief. Not only. If the disciples must prepare for the passion of their master, Jesus also needs instructions to undertake "his exodus", as he will specify Luke in 9,31: Moses had led the Jews out of Egypt, Elijah had retraced his steps, and now the Messiah, helped by those who have lived a similar experience of suffering and liberation, he will be able to go decisively towards Jerusalem.

The traditional interpretation of the presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain he says, indeed, that they would represent the torah e i Propheti, that is, all Scripture before Jesus. But today we rather think that the meaning of their presence is important if it refers to what Jesus is experiencing at the moment he climbs that mountain. Moses and Elijah experienced events comparable to Peter's reaction to the announcement of Jesus' passion mentioned above. The analogy between the events is given by the way in which Jesus interprets Peter's refusal: like a new temptation, similar to those at the beginning of his ministry; thus Moses experienced the golden calf and Elijah experienced the flight towards Horeb. These two events took place right on a mountain, after a failure of the people of Israel who had, in the first case, built an idol and, in the second, supported the priests of Baal against whom Elijah had to fight. In the face of these two disappointments, both Moses and Elijah ask God to die (cf.. Is 32,32; 1Re 19,4), ma, in response, instead, both are granted the vision of God. Moses, scared, But, he hides in the cliff (Is 33,21-22), and Elijah covers his face (1Re 19,13). While then they did not see God, now they finally stand before Jesus, in his glory and no longer veil their faces; they are no longer afraid of him, because «Jesus, the "beloved Son" of the Father (MC 9,7), "the chosen one" (LC 9,35), he is himself the visibility of the Father: «Who saw me, he saw the Father" (GV 14,9). In him Moses and Elijah meet, they see Jesus in glory, and they bring him their comfort. At the end, the Father confirms to the three disciples, Peter included, the path that Jesus will have to take" (M. Gilbert).

In the evangelical narrative and in the Lenten journey thus another framework is added that helps to answer the question we asked at the beginning: Who is he? Now it is the Father himself who reveals the profound identity of Jesus not only to those who witness it on the Mount of Transfiguration, but also to readers and believers in Christ: He is the Son. A theology very present in the Gospels that brings to mind what is written in the First Gospel, when Jesus says: “No one knows the Son except the Father” (Mt 11,27).

From the Hermitage, 24 February 2024

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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Only Jesus could be so good and merciful as to cure and heal a mother-in-law

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

ONLY JESUS ​​COULD BE SO GOOD AND MERCIFUL TO TREAT AND HEAL A MOTHER-IN-LAW

«Simone's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever and they immediately told him about her. He approached and made her stand up by the hand; the fever left her and she served them. Evening came, after sunset, they brought him all the sick and possessed. The whole city was gathered in front of the door».

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The pericope of the Gospel of this V Sunday of Ordinary Time tells us again about Jesus' typical day in Capernaum.

"During that time, Jesus, left the synagogue, he immediately went to the house of Simone and Andrea, in the company of Giacomo and Giovanni. Simone's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever and they immediately told him about her. He approached and made her stand up by the hand; the fever left her and she served them. Evening came, after sunset, they brought him all the sick and possessed. The whole city was gathered in front of the door. He healed many who were suffering from various illnesses and cast out many demons; but he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew him. Early in the morning he got up while it was still dark and, out, he withdrew to a deserted place, and there he prayed. But Simone and those who were with him set out on his trail. They found him and told him: «Everyone is looking for you!». He told them: «Let's go somewhere else, in nearby villages, because I preach there too; For this is why I came!». And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons". (MC 1,29-39)

If Mark's frequent use of the adverb "immediately" it served to speed up the narrative time, highlighting Jesus' haste regarding the announcement of the kingdom; in today's song, the locations here are also taken into account, like a space that tends to expand more and more. In fact, the movement of the story passes through the synagogue of the town on the lake (MC 1,29) to Peter's house, then again from the house to the open road in front of the courtyard door of Peter's house (v. 33), from a city to nearby villages (v. 38); at last, from the villages to "all Galilee" (v. 39). As if all space, quickly, must be occupied by Jesus, from his announcement and his works.

The characters of the story they are the disciples closest to Jesus, Simone's mother-in-law and above all the sick. These are the ones who take over the scene. They can already be found where Jesus arrives, like Pietro's mother-in-law, or they are brought to him; still others look for him spontaneously from dawn, when he is praying. Illness frames our song: be it a fever or a deeper suffering, spiritual or physical (like that caused by the impure spirits of v. 39), the vocabulary of the semantic field of the illness studs the story and is consistently present, including all the narration.

«And they immediately told him about her». The concern for this elderly woman is striking, because it shows attention towards the fragile and faith in the presence of Jesus. The elderly, feverish woman is not hidden from the Master as if she were a problem or someone to be ashamed of, so it wouldn't be worth bothering. The fact that the disciples immediately spoke to Jesus about Peter's mother-in-law shows that that woman was a priority for them. They don't ask for healing, they do not exploit the presence of the Master for their own purposes, they simply indicate the sick woman: this person is important to them. From this we can understand the meaning and value of intercession as of speaking on someone's behalf. Jesus appreciates it, so much so that he immediately does something: he holds out his hand to her, he lifts her up and then heals her of her illness. Jesus wants to be disturbed by the sick. Jesus appreciates and admires the intercession on behalf of the sick, as in the case of the centurion who intercedes for his sick servant (LC 7,1-10).

The theme of illness, we were saying, runs through the entire text of St. Mark. Suffering touches every man, but «experiencing one's own impotence in the illness, the man of faith recognizes that he is radically in need of salvation. He accepts himself as a poor and limited creature. He relies totally on God. He imitates Jesus Christ and feels personally close to him." (Adult Catechism, The truth will set you free, 1021). It is the "conversion" to which the sick healed by Jesus are called, rather, to which we are all called.

Thus we discover another meaning of Jesus' first words in the Gospel of Mark: «The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near» (MC 1,15). Time and space, but men and women are also touched by the fullness of God's presence and the kingdom is that reality in which the encounter with Jesus is possible. Jesus does not only carry out therapeutic activities, because his gestures are accompanied by words, from teachings. In fact these are signs to say that the kingdom is near: miracles announce and inaugurate the kingdom of God and correspond to Israel's expectations, where it was believed that the Messiah would come with thaumaturgical abilities. For this reason the announcement that "the kingdom is near" is complementary to the word "repent and believe in the gospel", because the crowds that flock to Jesus, before these divine gestures, they are called to believe and convert. If this doesn't happen, miracles are useless, as Matthew explains in another passage: «Then he began to rebuke the cities in which he had performed the greatest number of miracles, because they did not repent: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida. Because, if in Tyre and Sidon they had been done the miracles that were done among you, some time would have repented, wrapped in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt 11,20-21). The greatest healing that God can bring about is from our unbelief.

Finally, perhaps related to what we just said, we note the small discrepancy between the "all" who flock to Jesus to be healed (vv. 32.33.37) and the "many" who instead, actually, they are healed: «He healed many who were afflicted with various diseases» (v. 34). That, But, it is superseded by the resurrection vocabulary used by Mark. In fact, the verb that Mark uses to narrate the healing of Peter's mother-in-law - "he lifted her up" in v. 31) — is very important in the New Testament, because it does not only occur in healing contexts (MC 2,9.11; 5,41; 9,27), but above all in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus (GV 12,1.9) and of Christ (ad es.: At 3,15; RM 10,9). How Jesus was able to lift up Simon's mother-in-law, thus he will be able to give life to the dead, to everyone. The path that Mark wants us to take to come to know who Jesus is then becomes clear. He who in the opening of the Gospel is defined as "Son of God" (MC 1,1), as the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit (v. 8), as the "beloved Son" (v. 11) he is finally revealed in his being towards men: he is the one who "came" («exited», verbatim, from the verb exérchomai; cf.. v. 38) to men to listen to him and be healed of their infirmities.

The story of Jesus' day continues with rest, but then «early in the morning he got up while it was still dark and, out, he withdrew to a deserted place, and there he prayed. Simone and those who were with him set out on his trail. They found him and told him: «Everyone is looking for you!» (MC 1,35-37). We do not know which desert place the evangelist may be referring to, but it certainly couldn't have been far from the lake. Mark has already mentioned Jesus' prayer, in the form celebrated in the synagogue. This morning prayer is personal, as we also learn from other evangelical traditions, it seems to be the Lord's way of bringing everything back to the Father: what he experienced since the previous evening, what will await him in the day that continues. Thus Jesus teaches his disciples that prayer is essential to create unity in one's life.

From the Hermitage, 4 February 2024

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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That day when a demoniac immediately recognized Jesus Christ as divine power

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

That day when a possessed immediately recognized Jesus Christ as a divine power

«In their synagogue there was a man possessed by an impure spirit and he began to shout, saying: “What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth? You come to destroy? I know who you are: the saint of God!”. And Jesus ordered him severely: “Crazy! Go out of him!”. And the impure spirit, Strarking it and shouting strong, He left him ".

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This Sunday's evangelical song It forms part of what is commonly defined as the "day of Jesus in Capernao".

"During that time, Jesus, Entering Saturday in the synagogue, [the caférnao] he taught. And they were amazed at his teaching: In fact, he taught them as one who has authority, and not like the scribes. And here, In their synagogue there was a man possessed by an impure spirit and he began to shout, saying: “What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth? You come to destroy? I know who you are: the saint of God!”. And Jesus ordered him severely: “Crazy! Go out of him!”. And the impure spirit, Strarking it and shouting strong, He left him. Everyone was taken by fear, so much so that they wondered each other: “Which is never this? A new teaching, given with authority. He even commands impure spirits and obey him!”. His fame spread immediately everywhere, throughout the Galilee region ". (MC 1,21-28).

It is a collection of short episodes ranging from MC 1,21 until 1,34 that the evangelist contains over twenty -four hours. It starts with the morning prayer in the synagogue, described by the V. 21- Prayer still celebrated today by the Jews, which provides for the proclamation of the Torah, of the prophet and the subsequent sermon held by the rabbi - to get to the sunset of the sun, when now, finite lo Shabbat, It is allowed to bring the sick before Jesus. Jesus' activity is hectic: has no time except to teach and to heal. There is an adverb, "right away" (straight, euthys), Very important for Marco, which is repeated in vv. 21.23.28 - Unfortunately not caught by the Italian translation, but present in Greek - and even twelve times only in the first chapter, Forty -five in the entire Gospel of Marco; It indicates the haste of Jesus for which "time is accomplished" (MC 1,15): If the weather is accomplished, There is no time to waste to show how the kingdom has arrived among men.

The first activity that Marco tells us On Jesus is the fact that he taught with authority. The first miracle, Let's call it that, that performs is not a healing or an exorcism, But teaching. E, in proportion, Mark presents Jesus as a teacher, more than the other gospels: Five times the word in his regard Didachē - "teaching" - and ten times he calls him "teacher", reporting this title only to him. Teaching is one of the ministries of which Paolo speaks in the letter to the Romans (12,7), And it is perhaps the charity that we need most in times when it is difficult to transmit faith.

The others, to which Jesus is compared, are the scribes. But they do not have its own "authority". Even if they are not despised or decreased by the evangelist, Marco underlines twice (vv. 22 e 27) which he teaches in a very different way than them. The difference between him and the other "rabbini" could be at two levels. The first is that of the authoritativeness with which Jesus says things. Reading the texts of the rabbinic tradition, which were collected starting from the fall of the second temple, in the second half of the first century AD, We remain affected by the attachment to the "traditions of the ancients" - of which Marco in 7,1-13 - handed down with a long chain of these and sentences, but above all from the way these are listed one after the other, like a collection of different opinions but of the same value. The word of Jesus, on the other hand, has a more creative character and a greater weight: refers directly to the law and to God and, acquiring strength, His word is never just an opinion. But there is more and here we are at the second level of the authority of Jesus. His are not simply words, but they perform what they say. He is the "saint of God" (MC 1,24) and therefore his authority expresses the power of God himself: For this he teaches, exorcizes and heals, but always through a word that frees and saves.

The kingdom of God is a new creation in which, as already in the first, The words profitablely realize what they utter. This becomes evident in the second activity that distinguishes the advent of the kingdom in Jesus: the healing of the sick and the exorcisms. Where there is God with his kingdom, There is no room for evil and its powers: if they have to go.

In fact, Jesus does not let the unchanged spirit speak: «Take Tour», orders him. He does not want Satan to open his mouth and not only because the devil is "lying and father of lies" (GV 8,44). In fact it had already happened once the snake had spoken, And the sad story of man's sin began: The ancient snake to try to evil Adam had in fact inculcated the poison of doubt in Eva: "It is true that?» (Gen 3,1). If then he had been silenced, Adam would have won the temptation.

In this part of the Gospel according to Marco Christology is centered on the idea that Jesus is capable of recovering the fate of the first man. Who, When the devil is silent and also in the desert scene, or in the story of his temptation. Jesus is "chased" in that place (MC 1,12) Just as Adam had been "chased" by Paradise (Gen 3,24), thus sharing its misfortune, but leaving victorious from the test. At the end of it, Register Marco, Jesus "was with the fairs", that is, again in peace with creation, like Adam, "And the angels served it", that is, receiving the same honor that, according to a rabbinic tradition, God had given his most beautiful creature, The honor of being nourished by good spirits. Jesus, at last, It appears in Marco's Gospel not like a child, As instead in the Gospels of Matteo and Luca's childhood, but it arrives on the already adult scene, man made, As Adam was also created adult.

The day of Capernao takes place on a Saturday, The day when God rested after creating man. On this day Jesus can bring the world back to his original beauty, through the same creative word who made the universe and which allows him to exercise his strong authority; but also exercising on that day, Saturday, a special lordship. The "Son of man", how we will listen to another Sunday, It is "Lord also on Saturday" (MC 2,28). The time is of God and Jesus affirms this sovereignty over time by making healing on Saturday. And they are healings that touch men and women who had lost the reason for their disease because of their illness. For a healthy person, The development of the activities along the arc of the week aimed at a fulfillment in sabbatical rest: the encounter with God and with his word permeated with meaning and hope the existence.

For a disabled person, which was excluded from the sabbatical rest and the space of the temple, Here every day of the week was loaded with the same pain and suffering. The healings of Jesus on Saturday interrupt this indistinct flow of time in the body of the sick and restore to men and women who have lost sense of time his full value through Saturday. The healing of that man "possessed by an impure spirit", that that day of Saturday was right there where Jesus was also present, It is the beginning of a new Saturday, that is, a new creation, in which in the center there is the life of every person to be saved. As the rabbi and philosopher Heshel wrote:

«We must feel overwhelmed by the wonder of time if we want to be ready to receive the presence of eternity in a single moment. We have to live and act as if the fate of all the time depended on a single moment " (Heshel A. (J), On Saturday, Garzanti, Milan 2015, p. 96).

 

From the Hermitage, 27 January 2024

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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«Come behind me, I will make you fishers of men ". And immediately they left their nets and followed him

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

«COME BEHIND ME, I WILL MAKE YOU BECOME FISHERS OF MEN". AND IMMEDIATELY THEY LEFT THE NETWORKS AND FOLLOWED HIM

How might we describe the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus? The main difficulty is that Jesus never used any definition to talk about it. Rather, he used parables and images, paragonaldo, to always remain with the Gospel of Mark that we will read this year, to a sower who throws seed on the ground or to a mustard seed and so on.

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Left behind is the passage in the Gospel according to John last Sunday, the lectionary takes us back to Mark, who, the exposition of the trilogy common to the synoptics has been completed (John the Baptist, Baptism of Jesus and trial in the desert), resumes the narrative giving us an important temporal indication that we learn from the beginning of today's Gospel.

«After Giovanni was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and he said: «The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near; convert and believe in the Gospel". Passing along the Sea of ​​Galilee, he saw Simone and Andrea, brother of Simone, as they cast their nets into the sea; they were in fact fishermen. Jesus said to them,: «Come after me, I will make you fishers of men ". And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going a little further, vide Giacomo, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, while they too repaired the nets in the boat. And he immediately called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the boys and went after him. (MC 1,14-20).

Marco writes that Jesus begins to proclaim the kingdom of God "after John was arrested" (MC 1,14 cf.. also Mt 4,12). Many imagine that the chronology of the beginning of Jesus' public ministry unfolded like this: from Galilee, region he comes from, Jesus goes down to the Jordan to be baptized. Immediately afterwards, attempted, he remains for forty days in the desert before returning to Galilee. But instead more time must have passed and the turning point, what makes Jesus return to Galilee is represented by the arrest of the Baptist. Perhaps it is at that precise moment that Jesus becomes aware that it is time to assume his responsibilities.

The voice that cried in the desert, for it has been silenced, now move on to the Word that announces the kingdom. This interpretation helps us believers in times of difficulty and suffering, what John's arrest must have been like for Jesus and he makes us say it: something must be done. It is in such situations that, if you don't go, no one can go in your place. The call that Jesus will now make of his disciples, he experienced it firsthand; he saw the kingdom he announces arrive first, even in the painful news that Giovanni can no longer speak.

But here we are at an important theological question. How might we describe the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus? The main difficulty is that Jesus never used any definition to talk about it. Rather, he used parables and images, paragonaldo, to always remain with the Gospel of Mark that we will read this year, to a sower who throws seed on the ground (MC 4,26) or a mustard seed (MC 4,31) and so on. The kingdom, says Jesus, not only is it close, but we must welcome him as children do (MC 10,15) and get inside, although it's not that easy, especially if you have a lot of wealth (MC 10,23). It is present, that is, here or near, but it is also the future, like the one in which Jesus will drink, together with us, the new wine, other wine than that of his last dinner (MC 14,25). Christian theology has developed a formula for this purpose, that of "already" but "not yet", almost an oxymoron which says however that we can already inherit the kingdom and live in it, even if it is not yet accomplished. It is not yet extended to all men, ma, as the document of the Second Vatican Council teaches The light "he is already present in mystery" with the Church (cf.. n. 5).

In this sense Jesus distinguishes himself from the two main conceptions of the kingdom that circulated in the Judaism of his time. In fact, he did not invent this idea, already known to the Old Testament (cf. 1Cr 28,5) and did not apply it to that way of thinking that saw the kingdom as a "nationalistic" reality, all present, to be implemented perhaps at any cost, nor even to the opposite conception, apocalyptic type, who saw the kingdom as possible only as a future realization that denied the present. If we want to trace these two extremes in the history of humanity, we could say that materialism has often been based on the illusion that everything could be resolved here, now; but on the other hand it is easy to recognize in certain spiritualistic movements the devaluation of the present, viewed negatively.

Jesus instead used the idea of ​​kingdom to say first of all that it has arrived and therefore we can enter. But to do this we need to change our mentality, way of reasoning and thinking; to say it in the words of Jesus: «convert» (MC 1,15). "Come your kingdom!», pray to the Church again, today, after two thousand years. The kingdom already exists, but it must still be welcomed as a gift and found there even where it is difficult to see it.

Therefore in conformity with the Jewish eschatological expectation, but with the decisive difference that it is no longer a matter of waiting, the Kingdom of God is the effect of the messianic event announced by Jesus and present in him. The full unfolding of his redemptive sovereignty has not yet been realized, but the time of the end has come and therefore to speak appropriately there is no longer historical development, but rather a recapitulation of the whole story called to trial.

«This is the content of the “gospel of God” which is briefly reported to us by the most ancient tradition collected by Mark: «The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is near: convert, and believe in the gospel" (1,14-15). What is announced here is the time (the kairos) of definitive fulfillment, the promised coming of the Kingdom, the great turning point of the world inaugurated by Jesus whose final act is about to take place with his parousia. Evidently it cannot be the historical Jesus speaking here, but rather the Risen One preached by the evangelist, which precisely marks the time of the end between resurrection and parousia, as a unique event where all the time, the whole story condenses, including the life of Jesus itself. For this now, unlike Jewish eschatology, "faith in the gospel" is needed, that is, in Jesus Christ, in the Messiah, who is present as the one who came and who is coming. Therefore, by virtue of this faith, everything precipitates and concentrates in the present, there is no longer oscillation between past and future, tradition and expectation; but only the current hour in which the past is redeemed and the future is only the desire for fulfillment: «Come Lord Jesus» (AP 22, 20).[1]

The Gospel continues describing Jesus' haste to bring his word about the kingdom to fruition, because “the time is fulfilled”. The concept emerges very clearly in the Gospel of Mark, where the adverb abounds euthus (straight), "right away", repeated dozens of times. This concern finds its first application in the call of the four disciples (vv. 16-20) and in the episode of the teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum, accompanied by the liberation of a demoniac (next Sunday). Jesus, with gestures and words, it really shows how the kingdom came to be, and he says it: to the disciples (just called to him) and its people (in the synagogue). So the kingdom can only be a space in which God is present, where is that, precisely, only he reigns. The other powers can do nothing but recognize his authority («I know who you are: the saint of God" of MC 1,24) and submit.

The Fathers of the Church they were impressed by the way Jesus called the first to follow him: they note that they were simple and illiterate people (Origene), who will probably have objected with their inadequacy (Eusebio); we are also surprised by the fact that these "immediately" leave the networks and follow him (cf.. MC 1,18), but above all for the fact that even today, after many years, Jesus still "steps by" (MC 1,16) to our situations, to our daily life, to our networks, and invites us to follow him to be with him.

Each of us he is called where he is and every beginning always has a before that prepared it on which something new is then grafted, a change: just as the seed that has been sown has a different shape from the plant that will then sprout, so we too are taken by the Lord starting from our stories and our today to develop those potential for good and life that are contained in the "little seed" of our life and that only the Lord can open up and transform with the strength and imagination of his Spirit. We are asked to pay attention to his calling voice, filial and trusting abandonment to his words, and the readiness to respond without delays in time or attachments to the "already", to that known and known that reassures us but also risks blocking us: «And immediately they left their nets and followed him».

 

From the Hermitage, 21 January 2024

 

NOTE

[1] Gaeta G., The time of the end, Any, 2020

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A charitable mastery: «Rabbi, where you live? Come and see"

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Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

A CHARITABLE MASTERY: «RABBI, WHERE YOU LIVE? COME AND SEE"

Isaac Newton wrote «The more I learn, the more I realize how many things I don't know". Today it seems that many do not want to learn even though they are certain and sure that they know.

 

Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

one of the most natural attitudes we all have is that of research. When we are children we often ask ourselves the why of things. As we grow up we then find answers, and we continually renew our search for the meaning of truth in things. Isaac Newton wrote «The more I learn, the more I realize how many things I don't know".

In today's Gospel Jesus shows us two men in search and the path to follow to find the definitive answer. The answer is very beautiful: go with Him and see where the Lord dwells.

«Jesus then turned and, observing that [John and two disciples] they followed him, he told them: “What are you looking for?”. They answered: “Rabbi — that, translated, means teacher , where you live?”. He told them: “Come and see”».

We therefore find a very beautiful scene. Giovanni, Andrew and another disciple whose name we do not know move following Jesus. He notices this and questions them. They answer and thus recognize him as a teacher and want to know where he lives. And that's when Jesus invites them to come and see.

It is a vivid and strong dialogue between the three and Jesus. The Lord with his divine human gaze captures a heart and a mind ready to seek the house of God. Ready to search for that place where they can find the truth that unlocks their mystery and that of God.

Jesus is truly a teacher for them because as a son of God he can lead Andrew, John and the other disciple to a mastery, to a knowledge that becomes love. A knowledge of God that allows him to love himself and others in a concrete and practical way.

We are also in this meeting. We could say that we are symbolized by that unnamed disciple. The nameless one is the one who listens and asks Jesus what his home is today in 2024.

The Lord asks all of us to seek him first and foremost in the Church, lto his main residence, because in it the Eucharist is lived and celebrated, that is, the real presence of Jesus in the body, blood, soul and divinity. If we follow and see Jesus in the Church that celebrates the Eucharist, and therefore makes us actively participate in the encounter with Him, we can all also grow in learning communion with others. Because, effectively, the second home where we can meet Jesus today, he is our neighbor. In fact, all of us are the temple of the Holy Spirit and the temple of the Eucharist. Therefore, let us learn to look at our suffering and needy neighbors, the same Jesus who asks us for help.

So we must first learn to listen to the voice of Jesus who today asks our hearts “What are you looking for?”. Let's ask ourselves if our desires are holy, just and good, and we will truly feel the Lord inviting us to walk on the paths of Eternity.

We ask the Lord for the gift of research that leads us to authentic life, life in Him and in his Church, to become seekers of the Eternal Light.

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 14 January 2024

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The divine provocateur Jesus to the Apostles: «What are you looking for??»

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE DIVINE PROVOKER JESUS ​​TO THE APOSTLES: «WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?»

This first meeting of Jesus with his first disciples is a mix of glances and testimonies that converge towards the Lord. The profound mystery of his person begins to reveal itself, as well as the names of the first followers. This moment must have been so significant that they even kept the timetable: four in the afternoon, the tenth hour.

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In the Gospel of this Second Sunday of Ordinary Time let's read: «At that time John was with two of his disciples and, fixing his gaze on Jesus as he passed by, he said: «Behold the lamb of God!». And his two disciples, hearing him talk like that, they followed Jesus. Jesus then turned and, observing that they followed him, he told them: «What are you looking for??». They answered: «Rabbi – what, translated, means teacher –, where you live?». He told them: «Come and see». So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day; it was around four in the afternoon. One of the two who had heard John's words and followed him, it was Andrea, brother of Simon Pietro. He met his brother Simon first and told him: “We have found the Messiah” – which translates as Christ – and led him to Jesus. Staring at him, Jesus said: «You are Simone, the son of John; you will be called Cephas" – which means Peter». (GV 1,35-42).

The Church has understood the unity of the three mysteries that relate to the revelation of Jesus, and he already linked them in the ancient antiphon of the Second Vespers of the day of the Epiphany:

«Three wonders we celebrate on this holy day: today the star guided the magi to the nativity scene, today the water changed into wine at the wedding, today Christ is baptized by John in the Jordan for our salvation, alleluia».

This year the third mystery relating to the manifestation of Jesus it is always announced through the Gospel according to Saint John, but instead of the episode at Cana, the liturgy proposes that of the first manifestation of Jesus to the disciples, following the indication of John the Baptist who defines him as "Lamb of God".

The evangelical episode takes place on the third day of the inaugural week of Jesus' ministry, week that will culminate in the manifestation of his glory in Cana before his disciples who "believed in him" (GV 2,11). The text offers the Johannine version of the call of the first disciples narrated by the synoptic tradition, but with notable differences. John presents a scheme in which the mediation of a witness who confesses faith in Jesus and leads others to encounter him is fundamental: it is like this for John the Baptist with regard to two of his disciples (1,35-39), for Andrea towards Simon Pietro (1,40-41), for Philip who turns to Nathanael. In particular John the Baptist who, after a negative testimony about himself ("I am not the Christ") and a positive one about Jesus («Behold the Lamb of God»), he reveals in front of two of his disciples the identity of the one of whom he was the precursor and leads them to become disciples of Jesus. He who was sent by God as a witness of the Word "so that all might believe through him" (1,7) He thus fulfills his mandate by letting his disciples become Jesus', asking them to join him.

That we are faced with the manifestation of a mystery is also signaled by the “revelation scheme”, often used by the evangelist in his work and which can be summarized in the three phases of seeing, say and pronounce the adverb: «Ecco». The evangelical passage opens, like this, with John who "fixes his gaze" (1,36) about Jesus and says: «Behold the Lamb of God» and ends with Jesus who «gazes his gaze» (1,42) about Simon Peter tells him: «You are Simone, the son of John, you will be called Cephas – which means Peter". It deals with, in both cases, of an intense gaze, a seeing in depth, a discernment of a person's identity. Vocation is not just a calling as in the synoptics, but also a look like here in Giovanni. The look, like and perhaps more than the voice it is communication and revelation. In John the most neutral verb is to perceive, they see (Blepein). We find it for the initial scene of the baptism in the Jordan. John the Baptist sees Jesus coming to him and says: «Behold the lamb of God». But we can already see in this episode a transition from seeing to contemplating (GV 1,32) and then to the "I saw" of GV 1,34, come in GV 14,9.

To the most complete verb form we arrive in GV 14,9, where the verb «see» will be used in the perfect tense: I'm sorry (Euraka). Applied to Jesus, describes what the attentive and amazed gaze has discovered in him and of which the discovery is preserved in the memory. We can observe that every time John uses this verb "I saw" (and I cherish the memory of it) Jesus is recognized as the holy place where God manifests himself, the temple of divine presence, home, that is, the abode in which God himself lives. In such a context the meaning of the verse becomes clear Gv14,9: "Whoever has seen me has seen the father". Having seen Jesus and preserving his interior vision in memory means recognizing Jesus as the Father's dwelling place, present in his Son as in a dwelling. Because of this, returning to this Sunday's Gospel passage, it must be said that the renewed version of the CEI Bible in an adequate manner 2008 he translated v.38 as: «Rabbi where do you live?» and not «where you live?» as it was in the previous version, given the presence of the verb stay (Meno) which has particular importance in the fourth Gospel. The theme of dwelling runs, indeed, like a red thread through the entire fourth Gospel, progressively enriching itself. Broadening our gaze to the whole of the Gospel and trying to draw the threads of our discussion we can affirm that the same evangelist in 1,14 invites us to understand that in the man Jesus - the Word made flesh "full of the grace of truth" in which the witnesses "contemplated the glory of the only begotten" - there was a mystery, "unfathomably hidden" but which is revealed to us "symbolically" (St. Maximus the Confessor). It is the mystery of the "only begotten from the Father", who "came to pitch his tent among us". Thus he becomes the abode of the Father (GV 14,10), the new temple of God's presence (GV 2,21; cf.. GV 4,20-24). A beautiful passage by Saint Maximus the Confessor, sep­pur difficile, says the essential:

"The Sir […] he became his own precursor; he has become a type and symbol of himself. Symbolically he makes himself known through himself. That is, he leads all creation, starting from itself as it manifests itself, but to lead her to himself as it is unfathomably hidden".

Perhaps more intelligible and at the same time admirable is this phrase from William of Saint-Thierry, the friend of Saint Bernard, who interpreted the question of the first disciples in a spiritual and Trinitarian sense:

«Maestro, where you live? Come and see, He said. You do not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? Thank you, man! […] We have found your place. Your place is the Father; it's still, the place of the Father is you. You are therefore located from this place. But this localization, which is yours, […] it is the unity of the Father and the Son"[1].

This first meeting of Jesus with his first disciples it is a mix of glances and testimonies that converge towards the Lord. The profound mystery of his person begins to reveal itself, as well as the names of the first followers. This moment must have been so significant that they even kept the timetable: four in the afternoon, the tenth hour. This is how we begin to get to know Andrea, Simon Pietro's brother, (1,42) who from Jesus receives the vocation to become a "rock" (this means «Cephas»), among his brothers. Who is the other disciple who was with Andrew? We can hypothesize that he is "the beloved disciple". He is the one who, present at the cross of Jesus, seeing Jesus die as a Lamb whose bones are not broken (GV 19,33.36) "He testifies so that you may believe" (GV 19,35), just as John the Baptist testifies of Jesus, after having seen him and indicated him as the Lamb of God so that all may believe (GV 1,34.36.37). The parallelism between GV 1,38 («Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them») e GV 21,20-21 («Turn around, Peter sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following... and says to Jesus") shows that next to Peter, at the beginning of the sequel and after Easter, there is, in all likelihood, the beloved disciple who followed the Lamb faithfully from the beginning. And Peter, while he is made shepherd of the Lord's sheep and invited again to follow Jesus as a sheep himself (cf.. GV 10,4), receives the revelation that following the Lamb and pastoral ministry find their outcome in giving one's life for the sheep, in glorifying God with martyrdom. This will be Peter's testimony: in death on the cross the apostle will find himself where his Lord was: «If anyone wants to serve me, follow me and where I am, My servant will also be there." (GV 12,26).

From the Hermitage, 13 January 2024

 

NOTE

[1] GULLIEM OF SAINT-THIERRY, Contemplation of God. The oration of Dom Guillaume, Paris, Ed. Deer, 1959 (Coll. Christian Sources, n.61), 124-125.

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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In the lordship of Christ King of the Universe to be little kings

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Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

IN THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST KING OF THE UNIVERSE TO BE LITTLE KINGS

Oscar Wilde wrote: "Selfishness does not consist in living as we please but in demanding that others live as we please"

 

Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Dear readers of the Island of Patmos,

The Liturgical Year ends, It's our last one of the Catholic year. The liturgical year ends with a great celebration, that of Jesus Christ who is King of the Universe.

Today the monarchy it is no longer a form of government typically adopted throughout the world, where instead the republic is preferred. This is why the figure of the "king" escapes us, if not perhaps for the recent coronation of King Charles of England. Jesus is King of the entire universe and of our lives. But not like the King of England, of Sweden or Belgium. His monarchy is not exercised in a political government. It is a monarchy of love that expresses its throne of glory, its exposure of maximum visibility in the cross; today this throne of glory is realized for us, in the compassion of Jesus. We read it at the beginning of passage from today's Gospel:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory […] he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the peoples will be gathered before him. He will separate one from another, how the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.".

Here the image of the king is combined with that of the shepherd. Effectively, the shepherd, it also has a governing role within the world of the farm. It was a world and a culture close to the imagination in which Jesus speaks. Here then are those on the right who are blessed by the Father. Those on the left don't. Effectively, the blessed of the Father, they are those who welcomed the poor and needy in the various situations of need that Jesus expresses. While those who will be in eternal fire, they were not attentive and compassionate towards these material and spiritual poverty. Thus Jesus shows us and asks us to imitate him as King in concrete Love, in active charity, that He wanted to do towards all the people he met: Nicodemus, the blind man of Jericho, the demoniac of Gerasa and other encounters. The Lord has always accomplished all these great works with an act of compassion and tenderness, with a truly human and truly divine heart. A small Christological heart for a great love.

From this comes the foundation of the works of mercy for us material and corporeal. The Lord, so, He asks us to follow Him, our King, in Catholic life precisely because we operate with a concrete and attentive love for others, trying to look at them with tenderness. Trying to look at our neighbor as if it were Jesus himself who, as a little one, asks us for this service. We become little kings in Jesus little king of the Universe.

On the contrary instead we find those who will go into eternal fire. Because they have completely escaped the logic of love and compassion. So, the goats on the left are the people closed in on selfishness, in the dimension of unique attention to one's own needs and requirements. The risk we run when we forget the practice of works of mercy is that we no longer recognize not only others, but of not recognizing the need for God in life. So the wicked in the eternal fire are those who do not recognize the centrality of the Lordship of God in life, of the King of kings, without which we can do nothing. The tension towards selfishness is therefore a substitution, a crowning of oneself as king, demanding that the Universe and God bow down to us.

Oscar Wilde wrote: "Selfishness does not consist in living as we please but in demanding that others live as we please".

We ask the Lord to be welcomed to his throne and his monarchy of love, and be witnesses from now on that authentic Love exists, and we live in communion with the Father, of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen!

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 25 November 2023

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Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe: a royalty built on charity

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

OUR LORD JESUS ​​CHRIST KING OF THE UNIVERSE: A ROYALITY BUILT ON CHARITY

This page of the Gospel proclaimed today in our churches is so splendid, that every comment seems to spoil it a little. Better to leave it as it is, simply, to indicate to people that human life is never conceivable without the other. Tragedy then the conflict will not be, otherness, the difference but rather the two extremes that deny this relationship: confusion and separation

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In a short but famous apologue by title Martin's Christmas the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy1 told of man, a cobbler named Martin, who had mysteriously met the Lord in the needy people who had passed by his shop during the day and expressly cited the page of Gospel for this Sunday.

Saint Martin gives part of his cloak to the poor (painting, overall element) by Bartolomeo Vivarini (SEC. XV)

The literature it was not the only art that this wonderful page of Matteo inspired, just think of Buonarroti's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. Let's read it:

"During that time, Jesus told his disciples: “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the peoples will be gathered before him. He will separate one from another, how the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right hand: “Come on, blessed of my Father, receive as an inheritance the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world, because I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink:, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and dressed me, sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to visit me". Then the righteous will answer him: "Man, when we saw you hungry and fed you, you are thirsty and we gave you something to drink? When have we ever seen you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and clothe you? When have we ever seen you sick or in prison and come to visit you?”. And the king will answer them: “Truly I tell you: everything you have done to just one of these least brothers of mine, you did it to me ". Then he will also say to those on the left: “Via, away from me, cursed, the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, because I was hungry and you didn't give me anything to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you visited me ". Then it will: "Man, when we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we did not serve you?”. Then he will answer them: “Truly I tell you: everything that you have not done to even one of the least of these, you didn't do it to me. And they will go: to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life".

With today's song it ends not only, regarding the liturgy, the current liturgical year, which gives way to Advent, but also the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew. In fact, immediately after our pericope the evangelist begins the story of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, with these words: «Once all this talk is over, Jesus said to his disciples" (Mt 26,1). Jesus will teach in another way from now on, especially with gestures and obedience to the Father in the supreme test of the cross. For this reason today's pericope is of particular importance, the last speech given by Jesus in Matthew, without counting, the invitation of the Risen One to make disciples and baptize in 28,18-19, and the few but important words said during the passion, starting from the last supper.

Solo by the way it must also be said that despite a consolidated interpretative practice that begins with the Fathers of the Church and which leads to defining the scene as the "universal" judgment, starting from the 18th century, the many good clues in the text are underlined, not just lexical, to believe that instead of a judgment for the whole humanity, the text implies, on the contrary, a judgment only for pagans, but it is not possible in this context to make this interpretation explicit as it would require too much space.

The judgment scene is exclusively Matthean, and it is masterfully built, with the use of various expedients such as repetition, useful for memorization. There are many comparisons that we can make with the apocalyptic language and symbolism current at the time of Jesus which appear from time to time in the canonical literature - Daniel and Apocalypse - but also in the apocryphal literature. The original data, revolutionary, instead, the novelty that Jesus' speech brings is that the same judge, the king, consider himself the object of such actions: «I was hungry and I you fed", or, «not me you fed". This creates an effect of surprise both in those who showed him mercy and in those who denied it. While in the Old Testament the day of the Lord is decreed by God himself and therefore He is the only one who judges, in the logic of the New Testament it is Jesus, the Messiah, who can intervene in this judgment. Consequently God will carry out judgment, but this in nuce it already happens in the way we have related to his Son in this world, to Jesus present in the poor who were hungry and thirsty and who were or were not assisted by us. That's why at the end of time, it will be Christ, the Lamb, to take up the book of our life, what not even we are capable of reading and fully understanding, and to open its seals (cf.. AP 5).

What is then striking is the grandiose vision which embraces the whole of humanity is accompanied by the gaze placed on each one and, in particular, on those people who are normally the most invisible: poor, sick people, prisoners, hungry, thirsty, foreigners, naked. It is no coincidence that our text calls them "minimal" (vv. 40.45). Charity towards the needy, the gesture of sharing that is so simple, Human, daily, for everyone, believers and non-believers, it becomes that on which the final judgment is exercised. The example of Martin of Tours, according to the hagiographic narration of Sulpicius Severus2, it is emblematic. After having divided his cloak with the sword to cover the nakedness of a poor beggar at the gates of Amiens, in a harsh winter, Martin had a vision in a dream of Christ saying to him: «Martino, you have covered me with your cloak". Christ is identified with the poor, as in our evangelical page.

This page of the Gospel is so splendid proclaimed today in our churches, that every comment seems to spoil it a little. Better to leave it as it is, simply, to indicate to people that human life is never conceivable without the other. Tragedy then the conflict will not be, otherness, the difference but rather the two extremes that deny this relationship: confusion and separation3. The others, especially if in need, they will not be hell for me but a blessing: «You are blessed because…». Two famous ones pieces theatrical, one by Sartre4 with the famous expression inside: "Hell is other people"; the other by Pirandello, Dressing the naked5, which in the title makes direct reference to our evangelical passage, they dramatically tell us that by not excluding the Other from one's world the problem would be easily solvable and hell would cease to exist. Those authors understood, on the contrary, note the impossibility of an existence that excludes the Other. In other words, hell, it's the others, because you cannot escape from otherness, one realizes that the Other holds the secret of one's being and, while, that without the Other this being would not be possible.

So does the Lord Jesus, even in his last speech, surprised us once again by giving a new meaning to the 'works of mercy', already known in contemporary Judaism, where they were, But, understood as a sort of imitation of God, in the sense of doing for others what God himself has done for man. However, they did not foresee that the eternal judge was hidden behind very humble existences, disadvantaged and defeated. In the other, in his brother, there is Jesus who had said to his disciples: «Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me... Whoever gives even a single glass of cold water to drink to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, verily I tell you: he will not lose his reward ". While now he extends this vision to all of humanity – panta ta ethne, all nations del v.22: «Everything you have done to just one of these youngest brothers of mine, you did it to me". Because as an ancient hymn used in the liturgy of Holy Thursday says: «Where charity and love, God is there».

Happy Sunday everyone!

From the Hermitage, 25 November 2023

 

NOTE

[1] Tolstoy's reworking first appeared anonymously in the magazine “Russkij rabocij” (The Russian worker), no. 1 the 1884, with the title “Djadja Martyn” (Uncle Martyn). In 1886 the story, with the title “Where there is love there is God”, it was included in a volume published in Moscow by Posrednik together with eight others, all with the signature of Leo Tolstoy

[2] Severo Sulpicio,Life of Martin, EDB, 2003

[3] Michel de Certeaux, Never without the other. Journey into the difference, 1983

[4] J.P. Sartre, Closed door, Bompiani, Milan 2013

[5] Pirandello L., Naked masks. Vol. 5: Henry IV – Mrs. Morli, one and two – Dressing the naked, Mondadori, 2010

 

 

Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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We should reflect more on the sin of wasting time

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

WE SHOULD REFLECT MORE ON THE SIN OF WASTING TIME

However you want to understand them, since every parabolic tale is open to a plurality of interpretations, talents will remain a free gift that cannot be kept for oneself, nor does it hide, but it must be multiplied. They reveal that God, more than a master, he shows himself to be a Father towards us children and over time offers many of these graces to each of us and to our communities.

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A gift can be offered with a thousand reasons, even non-noble ones at times. But it has an unmistakable characteristic on its side: it reveals the identity of the one who offers and the one who receives it. The Gospel of this Sunday presents a very special Donor, who does not bestow a single gift, but rather all his good. Let's read:

"During that time, Jesus told his disciples this parable: «It will happen as to a man who, going on a trip, he called his servants and gave them his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, According to the capacity of each; then he left. Immediately the one who had received five talents went to use them, and earned five more. So did the one who had received two, he earned two more. The one who had received only one talent, he went and made a hole in the ground and hid his master's money there. After a long time the master of those servants returned and wanted to settle accounts with them. The one who had received five talents showed up and brought five more, saying: "Man, you gave me five talents; there, I earned five more”. "Good, good and faithful servant - his master told him -, you were faithful in little, I will give you power over much; take part in your master's joy". Then he who had received two talents came forward and said: "Man, you gave me two talents; there, I earned two more”. "Good, good and faithful servant - his master told him -, you were faithful in little, I will give you power over much; take part in your master's joy". Finally the one who had received only one talent also showed up and said: "Man, I know you are a hard man, who reap where you have not sown and gather where you have not scattered. I got scared and went to hide your talent in the ground: here is what is yours". The master answered him: «Evil and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered; you should have entrusted my money to the bankers and so, returning, I would have withdrawn mine with interest. So take away his talent, and give it to him who has the ten talents. Because anyone has, it will be given and will be in abundance; but to those who don't have, even what he has will be taken away. And throw the useless servant outside into the darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth". (Mt 25,14-30).

This Sunday's evangelical song adds a specification to the meaning of vigilance which had already been presented in the parable of the ten virgins (Mt 25,1-13). There, being vigilant meant being foresighted, to be ready, preparations, equip yourself with what you need, taking into account a long wait. Now, in the parable of the talents, vigilance is specified as attention and responsibility in everyday life and expressed as loyalty in small things ("you were faithful in a little": Mt 25,21.23).

First of all, let's remember what function the parabola has. This form of communication often involves the use of hyperbolic language, a paradoxical setting, with deliberate exaggerations that can even scandalize due to the violence involved. It affects us, who, the punishment of the wicked servant. But the ending is also surprising, as often happens in fictional parabolic tales, presents a real twist: talent is taken away from those who only have one and given to those who already have many. The question arises in the reader: what a master is he who allows himself to humiliate his servant in this way, who ultimately acted prudently?

It was said that vigilance it does not only concern the eschatological expectation but fully affects the relationship with everyday life, with its everyday realities. Matthew's parable, which has a somewhat different and more complex parallel with Luca 19,11-27, it is certainly inserted in an eschatological context - the v.30 places it on the horizon of the final judgement: «Throw the useless servant into the darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" - but this only reiterates that this final judgment is being prepared here and now, in the present day of history, something that will be shown in all its evidence in the parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25,31-46) next Sunday. There the eschatological authority of the little ones and the poor will clearly appear. The final judgment will be based on the actions of charity and justice carried out in their favor or omitted. The everyday thus reveals itself as the eschatological place par excellence, because it is the time we are given. Thus the parable after the distribution of talents[1] in a personalized way, commensurate with the capabilities of the recipients, unfolds between the "immediately" (v.15) of those who make them profitable and the after "a long time" (v.19) of the master's return. Besides, it doesn't seem important, at least in this story, the quantity of gifts received, since the two hard-working servants, although they received talents to varying degrees, however, they will receive the same reward. Rather, what is important is the time whose duration brings out the truth of people, of their behaviors, of their estate and their responsibility. The passage of time is revealing; in fact the first two servants were able to immediately grasp that it was the first great gift they could take advantage of and did not waste it by throwing it away.

We should reflect more on the sin of wasting time. If the third servant had thought about this he would have taken advantage of it, because in the end the reward would be the same as the first two servants who had received more. But as was said above, the gift is, as well as the time spent, revealing the characters in this parable. So does the donor, even if Jesus initially hides it behind an anonymous man (v.14), it is clearly God who will in fact later be called 'Lord' (Kyrie, Lord God v.20.22.24). Only He is capable of giving all of his things as a gift [2], in a preventative and unexpected way, especially towards recipients who, however enterprising, are still servants. Some church fathers wanted to see behind the gift of talents that of the Word of God, in memory of the parable of the good seed that bears fruit according to the soil it finds. Irenaeus of Lyons, d. 202 d.C., he saw there the gift of life, granted by God to men. However you want to understand them, since every parabolic tale is open to a plurality of interpretations, talents will remain a free gift that cannot be kept for oneself, nor does it hide, but it must be multiplied. They reveal that God, more than a master, he shows himself to be a Father towards us children and over time offers many of these graces to each of us and to our communities. The ability to recognize them and make them bear fruit is the quality of fearless servants who also know how to take risks.

The point of the parable but it is not of an economic nature, that is, in the ability to derive profits from the investment of capital, because the reward, in this sense, it should have been commensurate with the merit and size of the accumulated assets. Instead, it focuses on acting instantly and not remaining inert in the time given. Taking into account that the master-Lord will return and ask for reason («he sets out the reason» translates the Vulgate) of how the servants will have acted. They will discover that in his eyes what mattered was goodness and faithfulness in action and what seemed like a lot was actually very little compared to the reward: "Good, good and faithful servant - his master told him -, you were faithful in little, I will give you power over much; take part in your master's joy".

The parable thus becomes an invitation to the disciples and for communities not to remain immobile and enchanted in the face of the difficulties of the current times, ready to act at any moment, aware of the gifts received and that this which is given to us is the propitious time. The challenges it poses and the changed cultural conditions should not frighten us or make us remain happy only with what is already done or intoxicated by activism as an end in itself. The parable asks Christians for awareness, responsibility, audacity and above all creativity, all realities condensed in words: be good and faithful.

Finally we asked ourselves first because the master, protagonist of the parable, he treated the third servant so badly. What is striking in this story is precisely the idea that the servant had of him. While the first two servants didn't need to think about this, almost as if it were automatic for them that if the owner gives you a gift it should immediately be made profitable, the other servant instead develops his own idea, we could say his theology, which blocks its action, because the idea of ​​fear dominates it. Trapped in this image he has of his master, that of a hard and pretentious man, despite having the great gift of a talent at his disposal, he is unable to trust him. And this will be his real drama.

His inaction he will be judged in a parallel way to the good and faithful, but as evil and lazy. If he had at least opened a savings account he would have received the interest income, but he preferred to bury his gift and for this reason, when there is no more time to act, at the time of judgment, it will be delivered to weeping and gnashing of teeth, a biblical expression that indicates the failure of one's life[3].

Faith that works is important in the vocabulary of the first Gospel. Jesus speaks of the faith of those who believe in him to be healed, that of the centurion (8,10), of the paralytic (9,2), of the hemorrhaging woman (9,22), of the two blind men (9,29), della Cananea (15,28), and encourages his team, never criticized for having "little faith", to have more (cf.. 6,30).

Our parable it could therefore mean something about believing or not believing in God in the intermediate time that separates from judgment. The third servant, evil, he no longer has faith, he lost it over time: he forgot that what had been entrusted to him had to be invested so that it would bear fruit for the master, but also in his favor: it has therefore become useless (v.30). That the parable deals with the gift of faith, it can also be indirectly deduced from another text of the New Testament, where St. Paul says that this gift is mysteriously personalized, just like in the parable that Jesus tells:

«For the grace that was given to me, I say to each of you: do not value yourself more than is appropriate, but evaluate yourselves wisely and justly, each according to the measure of faith that God has given him" (RM 12,3).

To conclude we could ask ourselves: What vision do we have of God? The vindictive one, demanding and harsh that instills fear or the liberating one, positive that makes us act with trust and without fear, how Jesus lived it and taught us?

From the Hermitage, 19 November 2023

 

NOTE

1 The talent, which also meant «that which is weighed, it was a unit of weight of approximately 30-40 kg. corresponding to six thousand denarii. Because a denarius, according to what Matthew himself explains in 20,2 (Matteo is very precise in his use of coins, and in his gospel several types are listed), it is the amount of pay for one day of work, here we mean a large sum given to the servants for management

2 In the parable of the murderous tenants He does not hesitate to also send his Son (Mt 21,37)

3 "Still, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, which collects all kinds of fish. When it's full, the fishermen haul it ashore, they sit down, they collect the good fish in the baskets and throw away the bad ones. So it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the evil from the good and throw them into the fiery furnace, There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth " (Mt 13,47-50).

 

 

 

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The love that comes from charity is the foundation of Christianity

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Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE LOVE THAT BORN FROM CHARITY IS THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY

Jesus teaches us that there is no love for God that is very great, devoted and authentic, and that it does not become love towards our neighbor. A love of charity which therefore means acting according to concrete and real works, to help others also grow in holiness. Therefore as the Provencals said, in love you either grow or diminish.

 

Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Dear readers of The island of Patmos,

«It's obvious: l'Love waxes or wanes and never stays the same'. We find this beautiful phrase in an ancient one Provençal Love Code. This maxim contains one of the fundamental laws of love which is continuous growth in the donation of oneself to others and to God. Love is a common experience that we have all experienced at least once in our lives. The foundation, therefore, of our human love, what love of charity and tenderness is always the love of God which being eternal, He asks us to love with an eternal love too.

This cornerstone is enclosed In the Gospel of this XXX Sunday of Ordinary Time, where the fundamental law of Christianity is stated. A true Copernican revolution within Judaism and the Greek world- romano. An absolute novelty where the center of everything is the relationship of love between God and man.

Once again we find the Pharisees all united to hold a council against Jesus Christ. Last week went badly for him, when they had sent the Herodians to try to turn him against the Romans. This time they send a doctor of the law, an expert who asks him a trap question. Which 613 Jewish precepts (take it easy) you think is more important, according to the Jewish hierarchy? This is also a trick question, according to the fallacy of false dichotomy. From i 613 There was in fact a hierarchy and importance to the precepts. Regardless of whether or not we remember this hierarchical scale - which for Jesus was simple - the trap consisted in listening to Jesus' response, whatever the answer would have been, reply that the precept cited was instead the least important one. In tal modo, they wanted to discredit and show Jesus' lack of connection with Jewish tradition and with God. Jesus once again frees himself from this argumentative trap. And he exploits the situation to offer the center and core of the teaching of Christianity. Jesus responds:

«”You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind”. This is the great and first commandment. The second one is similar to that one: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets ".

The news it consists first of all in the formulation of these two precepts. The first is taken from Deuteronomy 6,5 and it is linked together with the law of Holiness that we find in Leviticus 19,18. Here then is the inseparable link between love for God and neighbor already present and prefigured in the Old Testament and is then made explicit and announced by Jesus. This answer breaks any counter-answer. And it is an answer that is still valid for us today.

Jesus teaches us that there is no such thing as love towards God who is very great, devoted and authentic, and that it does not become love towards our neighbor. A love of charity which therefore means acting according to concrete and real works, to help others also grow in holiness. Therefore as the Provencals said, in love you either grow or diminish. We grow in love towards God because the works of mercy continually fuel our choice of faith which is a relationship with the eternal You of God, perennially in love with his creation and therefore with humanity. At the same time, to love with charity is to choose to engage responsibly in the Church, so that all other believers can encounter Christ through us. If you stop loving, also our life and our joy, little by little they fade. Thus our person also becomes more and more closed in on himself. Jesus asks us to put our authentic and tender love into circulation.

We ask the Lord the strength and courage of generous and merciful action, to all grow united on the path of holiness that leads to eternal life.

Amen.

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 29 October 2023

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